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I have a 2007 HCH it was

I have a 2007 HCH it was getting great gas mileage...44mpg city/highway. Last June 2010 I got new tires and Honda did a upgrade to the computer. All of sudden I was getting 30 - 32 mpg. I called Honda and they suggest it was the new tires, well last week I changed my tires for tires made for hybrids. I am still getting 30-32 mpg. Looks like Honda scewed up...the problem is the computer upgrade they did last year. How many of you had the upgrade?? then got bad mpg. We all need to get together and get a class action suit against Honda so they will correct the problem. I am very unsatified with Honda at this point in time we all paid extra for a hybrid and got screwed. Either fix this mess or refund us the extra money we paid for a hybrid.

We have owned a 2004 Honda

We have owned a 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid since it was brand new, and it is the best car I've owned in my life. Even after driving it for 8 years, we get an average of 42 mpg. We will definitely buy another Honda, and probably a hybrid, when we buy another car, but we expect this one to last quite a while longer!

Interesting, it looks like

Interesting, it looks like there are a lot of issues. I have an 06 HCH I bought used and it was getting 43-46 mpg no matter how I drove it up until I took it in to a dealer for service where they performed the recall on the IMA. Immediately mileage dropped to 37 mpg on the next tank and then after that to 33-35 where it's stayed. The ecu reboots the battery just about every time I start the car after about 2 minutes of driving. It's a clear sign the battery has fewer cells than it used to and the new program is trying to stave off complete failure so Honda doesn't have to replace the battery pack. The electric motor doesn't kick in as often anymore and I definitely notice the ICE revving higher and faster than it ever did to compensate for not having the electric motor kick in. All this results in decreased mileage.

I can tell that Honda went back and reprogrammed the IMA software to extend the battery life instead of optimize for mileage. Prior to the flash when the battery rebooted it went down to zero, a complete deep cycle, this is bad for batteries. Now when it reboots it only discharges down to 30%. To maximize the life of the battery it has to be kept in the range of 30-75% charge. It seems Honda took a long time to figure this out. Whereas Toyota seemed to understand it right away. This explains the size of the Prius battery pack. The HCH system won't spit out an error code on the battery until it won't hold a charge at all. So even if it only holds 10% of the original charge Honda will refuse to replace it and every service department will say they same thing, "It's not showing an error code." True, because it's designed not to.

From the various stories I can tell there are quality control issues with the battery pack as well. It seems that Toyota managed to source the top tier batteries before the other car makers got in to the act so the Prius packs seems the have fewer duds whereas the HCH pack seems to have a larger portion of premature failures. If you have an older model HCH and still get great mileage then you got one of the good ones, if you have an HCH and it's not doing so well, like myself, you didn't get lucky.

These issues are the reason why I think Honda went to a lithium ion pack on the 12 HCH. For the same size, it will hold a larger charge. Seems like Honda didn't put in the time to understand the issue or they decided to take the risk. The data was already coming back from the gen1 but they still went the same route on the gen2. The new IMA program is clearly a corporate cost containment program. I'd probably make the same decision if I were in there shoes. But now I have to decide what to do with a car that was purchased for 40+ mpg that now gets only 33. I'd like to ask the guys who made IMA program decision what they'd do if they were in my shoes.

Yep we get 33-35 mpg on our

Yep we get 33-35 mpg on our 2009 Civic Hybrid. For the last 10 months I have been telling my wife that the computer program update caused it and showed her how the battery was charging more often and the electric moter not aiding the gas motor as often. Honda does not admit but a mechanic did tell me the upgrade was to help keep the battery life longer.
I want some $$ back from Honda, like the $4k or so I paid for the hybrid and not the standard civic. Heck, now with the mpg lost, the loss of extra trunk space really makes this car SUCK.

As an owner of a 08 prius

As an owner of a 08 prius and an 08 Honda Civic Hybrid, I live in Maine and the Prius gets 50-56 MPG depending on the season. The Honda is less at 46-50 MPG depending more on driver and terain. The 1.3 engine I will tell you is gutless, but lets be honest, if you wanted fast, you should have bought a different car. These cars both travel 22-29,000 miles per year of combined driving. Air pressure in my tires on the Honda is: 35 frt. and 34 rear and this combo seems to work well on the Honda. My sister inlaw has had 2 of these Hondas 05 and 08 and never gotten worst than 44MPG. I use synthetic oil for my changes and make sure the air filter stays very clean. Love both cars, but I like the Prius better, they have a better Hybrid system, much smoother and more powerful. But the honda is good too. These cars save my wife and I approx. $1600.00 ea. per year, in fuel costs, so I'd say they are a very smart buy for the inteligent driver that drives a lot of miles a year.

i just got a 2005 5-speed

i just got a 2005 5-speed stick shift used w/ 50k miles for $10,000. I'm getting 51mpg and commuting 150 miles daily. I ordered a k and n air filter and some honda genuine mtf. Using both in my 2000 insight bumped my mpg from 60 to 68. I am shooting for 55-60 in the civic hybrid. I read all of these other complaints and all I can say is.....CVT is lame. I could get 90mpg in my insight driving 55 on the freeway, or get 55mpg driving 90.
i am looking forward to improving on my HCH's mpg. To all of you who look at the window sticker mpg rating of any car like it's the word of God...I bet you actually believe politicians can improve your quality of life. Only you can make yourself happy and only you can achieve / improve your mpg!

by caring enough to really become "hands on" in your maintenance and driving

I bet half of you with your lemon law suits are driving around with conventional 5w-20 / 5w-30 and don't even know it !

I have been reading about

I have been reading about hybrids I don't own one because of the cost didn't justify the difference in MPG. I can fill up a lot of tanks of gas at 35MPG in a non hybrid. I see some suggestions about over filling tires that is a very bad idea to fill the tires more then suggested by the manufacture of the car. When you do that your tire contact with the road is less which could cause you to spin out at high speeds when trying to avoid with quick turns. All cars made with ABS braking are designed to brake and avoid the idea behind ABS is to keep the tires from locking and you can still steer the car. Safety should never be compromised for MPG. As prices come down on Hybrids I might be inclined to purchase one but it's troubling to hear how MPG issues. I have noticed MPG going up with new ECO engines plus I really hate the way the Prius looks I know that is from wind tunnel test's but the Chevy Volt looks a lot better.

Very helpful. I just bought

The MPG on the sticker is

The MPG on the sticker is saying what the car could get, not what you will get speeding around town. If you want to get the mileage stated on the sticker be prepared to see a lot of middle fingers from other drivers as they pass you and honk the horn.

You can drive your car anyway you like, you will still get better gas mileage than from a regular car being driven the same way. Also, any technique that can be used to get better gas mileage from a hybrid can also be used on a regular car.